In the shadows :the path of lucas

Blood for Data

Report status positions,major akange voiced via the earphone from the chopper,

roll call was taken and the command came almost immediately

, “Execute, weapons are free, Acknowledge “

Acknowledged sylvanus voice came over the speakers,

Alright boys, let's get this party started,

stated sylvanus, there's an NIA asset in there, we are to get her out alive and screw the rest, no witnesses,

The front door blew up as ten pound primacord explosive shook the entire structure and part of the forest ground,

two explosive grenades and a handful of stun grenades flew in as the kill squad charged in, weapons silenced, eight men were at the entrance when the explosive went off, two died instantly and the other four got headshots, three went left and three right, four approached the main passage that seemed to go down a narrow stairway that led into a basement, more gunfire sounds were heard and quickly died out, sylvanus took the lead as they burst into the room at the stairway end, a lethal fire broke out, two men mounted SMGs firing nonstop, they backed down, unable to move, some one dropped a stun grenade into the room, the distraction was enough, sylvanus had already dropped his rifle and drawn out his makarov, he fired twice to his left as someone else planted a bullet through the skull, but Tunji bello was more crafty than that, with an impact sensitive bomb vest on his person, he held out the kill switch in his hand and a gun pointed at the woman's skull from behind, back off he threatened or I will shoot you suckers,

Drop the gun Tunji, sylvanus said, gun still trained at him, there's no escape, we've got the perimeter covered, you cannot escape, let's talk

There is nothing to talk about, you and I know that, Tunji bello said giving a loud hysterical laughter, you think am stupid,??

This isn't a game, sylvanus said, running Out of patience,

Am not going down alone fools, never

Sniper one to team, I have the target, directly behind sylvanus head,

Take it when you get the chance

Three

Sylvanus kept Tunji engaged

Two, the team kept backing out, going in circles,

One, now, came the command

sylvanus knees gave way and he fell to the ground as a 7mm bullet cruised over his head at nearly the speed of light catching Tunji squarely in the head as another went through the spine and spleen,he slumped to the ground like a garbage bag

Akange pulled out the encrypted sat phone and dialed a number in aso rock, he spoke only three words,

“He is dead”

The line went off, the press carried it the next day like a wild fire, every news agency was left in the dark about what truly transpired, all they saw was blood and torn corpses.

Shali village, Egypt

The NIA safe house was a tomb with furniture In the middle of the desert , lucas locked the door using the dead bolt, pushed the cushion to block forced entry and gently placed a glass tumbler on the door knob, then killed the lights, he could still hear the droning sound of gunfire in his ears and his heart beat drumming in his head, he closed his eyes and drained out the sounds, the toll of traffic, the honking, music blaring from a distant, neon lights peeking in through the taped curtains, and calls to prayer, none of it touched him.

His thigh was on fire, the 7mm beretta had dug a hole just inches away from where the sub automatic machine gun had first ransacked his thigh, not bone, nor artery, NIA luck maybe, he guessed, he dumped the med kit on the ground and got to work for the second time, one MK20 with a damaged optic, three magazine, fully loaded, one firearm, the ledger and a medical pouch older than some recruits.

He worked swiftly, already lost a great deal of blood, he felt his way in the dark with a pair of night vision glasses, already lost a great deal of blood, he tore the portion of trouser where the bullet had hit him the second time, he wiped the wound with am alcohol based sanitizer, his teeth clenched at the crucifix hanging on his neck as he bit down a scream, the needle and thread came again, in, out, pulled tight, the flesh puckered like a bad seam, blood black in the dark.

Gods eye had satellites, he had just a needle and thread and a couple of guns, that was working just fine, for the moment, at least.

The ledger was wrapped in foil from the safe house kitchen , it worked,Faraday cage, the foil blocked the ledger transmission, Bellos people would be sweeping all Egypt for signal trails, gods eye would be sweeping for him,trying to predict his every pattern and move,

He was ghost so long as he stayed analog.

He peeled off the foil then tore off the wrap encasing the drive with his teeth,the steel felt cold on his teeth, he was wrong, the drive was ceramic, cool,coloured a dull grey, heavier than it looked and slightly bigger than a normal drive, weighed at least an ounce, no ports, one biometric pad, it wanted blood and an eye.

Lucas thumbed his knife and opened a fresh wound on his left thumb and pressed it to the pad, he had installed his biometrics into NIA database and assets, so he had a back door access, then his face, close, the retina scan was a cold pin prick of red light.

The ledger clicked, a blue glow hit his face, for a second, he was back in abuja, Ghost Bello handing him the drive,

“You are the only one i can trust “

liar!!, he screamed, veins pulsating all over his body,

the screen populated, not names first, he bypassed those, he needed the logs, the audit trail, gods eye access records we're embedded in the ledgers security partition, ghost bello was too arrogant to scrub them.

He typed :Search History //USER:K. A Bello-DDO

The drive made a mechanical whine, in a second, it spat out the results, one line made his heart beat pause.

Query :NIA -Courier-Lucas -O

TimeStamp:sixteen hours Ago

Auth:K. A Bello-DDO

Result :GPS Ping relayed to External IP=41.00.XX. XX

Location:N11.8333,E13.1500.

Northern Nigeria, Boko Haram territory, sector eighteen,

Ghost Bello had used gods eye to sell him, live with a timestamp 20minutes before his flight ever took off from virgin airlines in abuja.

The ledger pinged again, and the street grew quiet almost a minute after, unsettling quiet, that dead end silence that usually came before something catastrophic unloads.

Somewhere in the heart of abuja In a top secret bunker, a monitor beeped to life flashing a red beacon, “target located “a large profile map of Egypt appeared with a blinking red dot on the location of the safe house lucas was in, he heard a short droning whine, he noticed a quadcopter drone level down to outside his window, he was pretty much sure the ground party would be present in another twenty to twenty five minutes and gods eye would already be initiating the xray sequence already, preparing to scan through the wall, he quickly plugged out the drive and wrapped in the foil, grabbed his stuff while tucking the beretta into the back of his shirt, his foot knocked against something, he looked down to find a stun grenade

“magnificent distraction “,

he tossed it through the window and saw the bright flash, the drone circled to the sudden burst of energy , but lucas was already prepared, gun in hand and bag by his side, two taps and it went down, he quickly grabbed his stuff and headed out the back door,he came upon his assailant outside the fire exit with ferocity , before he could react, he had an eight inch steel blade in his trachea, choking on his own blood,

Across the street was a lone street lamp that cast a shadow on the other side of the street, he dashed across and turned left towards the alley way, he had barely taken twenty steps when he heard footsteps circling him about, about four men stood around him with a fifth at the head, giving a little space in between,

The supposed leader had a scar running from his cheek bone to his jaw line, the scar had only narrowly missed his eye,

Hand over the drive and I might let you run a little longer before you die, said the man with the scar,

Awnn, said lucas, am already scared scar face, you think that would intimidate me?? Leave now and I might leave your corpses in one piece,

Well then, said scar face, we might just have to take it using other means, don't blame me

Lucas looked around, all four seemed eager to pummel him down, if only they knew what's coming

Well, he shouted, looks like you've got yourself a tough bunch, first man to touch me wins a wheel chair, how about that??

They attacked simultaneously, the first man threw a fist , Lucas caught it in midair, cracked his shoulder blade before delivering a fatal blow to the joint where the thigh and leg met, somewhere above the kneecap, the man yelled as flesh and muscle split to reveal a white protruding mass that shot up from the other side, probably the bone,he struck the back of the neck with his elbow, the brain would go into an instant haerrmohage, just how he had learnt, he could feel the mans body lose energy as an axe sliced the air above his neck as he ducked under, delivering a rapid undercut , too bad he had promised the first man a wheel chair, he gasped for breath as something hooked his neck from behind, clinging tight, his vision blurred as someone else struck him repeatedly in the stomach , he was sent crashing to the ground as someones leg caught him by the side of his head, striking him to the ground, he spun around, producing a swiss army knife and leaving a ghastly cut that ran from the neck base to all through the chin and nearly caught the eye, the man retaliated in pain, the guy behind wasn't so lucky, still holding the chain, powerful arms grabbed him and pummeled an eight inch blade into his abdomen, he saw the man he had recently decorated his face rushing towards him with an matchette, he pulled out his gun but didn't react fast enough, the matchette cut the air as he dodged, his thigh twitched with pain and he lost stamina, almost falling to the ground his lower back touched something cold that made him smile, he pulled out the dagger and ended the duel as a shot fired from a twelve gauge 50calibre shot gun zoomed into the middle of his chest, the full weight shot him into the air several inches high, gravity seemed slow as he began his forever descent to the other side of the street, his body slumped where he had fallen

Scar face walked over his side, squatted right above his head with a cigarette in his mouth while speaking

I warned you but you wouldn't listen, now you die like everyone els.....

He choked on his words and blood as an eight inch blade protruded from the other side of his neck

You boys never listen, said lucas in what was barely a whisper, and you never learn

Scar face stared at him in disbelief, trying desperately to form words ashe lost his vision and consciousness

Yes, I was wearing Kevlar the whole time, NIA Prototype, he picked his bag, fished the dead men for some extra cash and wallets, took scar faces car, and dissappeared to khan-el-khalili.